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Moore: We will miss Pocock

Sportal.co.nz 22 Aug 2012 Getty Images

Australian hooker Stephen Moore has tried to stay positive in regards to news Wallabies captain David Pocock has undergone knee surgery.

In the wake of Australia's 29-17 defeat to New Zealand in the Bledisloe Cup opener on Saturday, the Wallabies have suffered more bad news with confirmation captain David Pocock could miss up to three months after undergoing keyhole surgery on his right knee.

Speaking to the media on Tuesday, Moore tried to keep a positive frame of mind surrounding his skipper's injury.

"It's just an unfortunate part of rugby and it's sad to see him missing the rest of the year," Moore said.

"But David, I hope we will be able to get him back sooner rather than later."

Moore quickly changed his focus to the Wallabies' next match on Saturday when they will travel to Auckland to take on the All Blacks.

If the All Blacks win they will retain the Bledisloe Cup for the 10th consecutive year and the Wallabies know it will be tough at Eden Park, a venue where Australia have not won for 26 years.

"We have to win this game to keep the Bledisloe Cup alive," Moore said.

"It's a do or die game for us from that perspective and likewise with the Rugby Championship.

"We need to pick up points if we want to be in contention for that trophy.

"So it's a big game on lots of different fronts."

Moore believes Australia need to gain a physical advantage to knock off the All Blacks, particularly at the initial point of contact when being tackled or making tackles themselves.

"They dominated [the contact] area and history suggests that is a key area when we play these guys," Moore said.

"We spoke about it beforehand, we spoke about it internally, we spoke about it to you guys but we just didn't do it so we've got to look at why that's happening and make sure that we actually start doing what we're saying."